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Saturday, 26 January 2013

Greek Horses

For eight weeks I have to take my son in to central London on Saturday morning, as he is doing what is called a mathematical masterclass at Gresham College. This is pretty exciting for both of us. I think I have mentioned that he is dyslexic, and struggles with much at school. But not maths, where apparently he is a bit of a whizz. So being picked by his school for this special course is really great for his self-esteem.But I was also a bit worried about what I
will do each week, for the 3 hours 30 minutes when he is doing
maths. Although I live on the edge of London, it is quite unusual for me
to spend time in the centre especially with nothing specific that I must do.

Isn't the outside of The British Museum impressive, but I also love the view of the ceiling once you go inside? The modern and classic architecture has been combined in a really interesting way.

The British Museum is absolutely enormous, and full of antiquities from all over the world (which I'm not completely sure that we should have, but that is a whole blog post in itself). So what to photograph? I thought I had to limit myself a bit, and focus. My first idea was to look at the human form in different cultures. But even that would be a huge topic.

So puzzling what to do, I wandered into the Greek section, and was enchanted by these tiny metal animals, and the numerous animals paintings I found on pots. I came home with 84 pictures on my camera, so expect a few more museum posts.

I suppose the horses most associated with Ancient Greece, are the famous Trojan Horse, and also the winged horse, Pegasus. There are other grander and bigger horses in Greek art, but I love the elegant simplified forms of these little models, and paintings. You can really imagine the metal forms having been held and smoothed in a Greek hand all those years ago. Or the artist making the brush strokes on the pot. They look so fresh.

So expect a bit of history over the next few weeks, although I am also pondering if I could knit a Greek horse ...

15 comments:

The British Museum is one of my favourite places! I skirt the question about whether some of the exhibits should be there at all by reminding myself I probably wouldn't have seen them otherwise and, if left in situ, they might well have been destroyed in various conflicts, but yes, that is another discussion.

I really love your horse theme and I'm looking forward to more from the British Museum. Are the Elgin marbles still there or were they returned? Congrats to your son, by the way, that's fantastic. As a mum, I think I know how you feel.

How wonderful for your son! I can't wait to see the rest of your photos! I loved the British Museum when I went there, and would love to go back again someday. There was really too much to take in in the few hours we spent there.